Fallen Heroes
by Steampunked
Summary: A narrative re-telling of the scene at the Northern Mountain and beyond from my perspective. This is skewed towards a DG/Cain relationship.
1. Unintentional Sparks

**Fallen Heroes**

The motley crew of four travelers wrapped in coats, shawls, furs, and even blankets approached the foot of the Northern Mountain of the O.Z., slipping upon the ice below their feet. DG stumbled towards the Tin Man and grabbed the axe he had snatched from DeMilo's gaudy van yelling, "Dig!"

" _Dig?!_ "

"Wait…wait!" they all protested as she walked right up to the sheer block of ice that was the side of the mountain.

The three men looked at each other in confusion and maybe even a little concern for her sanity as DG appeared to chant something that held no meaning for them.

"The Daughter of Light…came upon a glistening white mountain, frozen in time in a sea of ice…above all else she knew that…" DG swung the axe repeatedly at the foot of the mountain as Raw looked back at the Zipperhead, wondering if he thought she was as crazy as he did. Cain kept a watchful eye out on the kid, warming his frozen hands with his breath. She had fooled him before with her wide and innocent blue-eyed stare, but now that he knew who she was and all the magic, mystery, and history she held in her slender hands he had begun to put the little trust he was willing to give anybody into this slip of a girl.

Not knowing the stir she was creating behind her, DG proceeded with her arduous task, still chanting from memories barely seeping from the blocked recesses of her brain, "...that this mountain was more than it appeared…it was…home!" With a last final heave of the axe, DG revealed a frozen door. She laughed out of sheer relief that she wasn't crazy. Gingerly, she reached out to test the handle of the door.

The door didn't budge.

"Is it locked?" Cain asked.

Raw turned to the Tin Man and nodded.

DG, focused entirely at the task directly in front of her, silently reached up her left hand and held it out in front of the door. She was just following a hunch, remembering the Mystic Man's last words to her: "Let this guide you."

The young woman gazed at her palm as it began to glow a coppery light in the tornado shape that Father Vue had branded into her hand. To her great surprise, the door popped open. She stepped into the hole she had dug, followed by her three stalwart companions.

They entered into a Great Hall, long-abandoned, smelling of dust and disuse, their footsteps echoing among the great columns holding the gilded ceiling high above their heads. They walked forward, looking about them wonderingly.

DG's eyes rested on the focal point of the castle they had found themselves in: A Great Portrait of a queenly lady and someone who could be Glitch's unzippered twin brother dressed in royal regale.

"My mother was the queen?" DG stopped before the painting and wondered aloud, mouth gaped open in shock.

"That makes you…Princess" Raw said softly, bowing to her with a flourish.

DG smiled at her furry friend. Looking back at Glitch, she pointed to the larger-than-life portrait. "You knew my mother."

"I knew I wasn't an idiot" said Glitch smiling wide, "or a convict" with a pointed look at Cain. "I _was_ the Queen's advisor." Glitch happily pondered his past while looking at the painting.

"The Queen sat…gazing hopefully out among her frozen realm…" DG haltingly said, waiting for her long-cloaked memories to slowly return to her. Cain's ice blue eyes took her in as she spoke. "Longing for her daughter to return!" Impulsively she ran to the grand, winding staircase.

"DG, wait!" Glitch cautioned, all three men following immediately in her wake, their steps echoing in the great marbled hall.

The friends stopped at the top of the staircase in what appeared to be a bedroom, furniture covered in sheets. DG stopped before a chair where a fur-lined coat lay draped. She ran her fingers through the soft cream and tan trimming, wondering why she felt drawn immediately to the luxurious clothing.

Raw came to stand beside her, gingerly touching the fur, as fine as his was coarse. "Sad…Mother waited, couldn't stay." Raw said, his liquid brown eyes looking deeply into DG's sapphire-blue ones. Cain, ever watchful, stood helplessly a few feet away, fists curling for a moment in frustrated silence as he watched DG wipe a sudden tear away from her cheek, walking away from the strong emotions Raw couldn't himself part from. Cain didn't even realize himself how drawn already he was to the young woman who had freed him from his metallic prison as he walked slowly to where she sat, wondering how he could take away the pain with which she was so obviously struggling.

Glitch bounded hopefully towards one of the cloth-covered pieces, which resembled ghostly statues mocking the once-lively room. "There is something _so_ familiar about this," he said, sweeping the sheet away to reveal a beautiful wooden harp. Eyes wide, gasping aloud, Glitch took in the musical instrument which at one time meant…absolutely nothing to him. "Nope!" he said, tossing the covering away.

Raw bowed his head over the ghostly covered bed, muttering aloud. "Bad things…bad things happen here," he said, turning to the group with a great sorrowful look shadowing his leonine features. Once again, Raw was overcome by dark emotions that, though long past, were rushing into his heart unwanted. He didn't care if he wasn't being brave enough to withstand them; he just wanted to be far away. Turning towards DG he held out his paws.

"What bad things?" DG asked, looking for answers…endlessly hoping to fill in the frustrating holes in her brain that made her feel like her skull was emptier than Glitches'…and he had half of his surgically removed.

"We go…we go now" he said, nodding encouragingly, pulling DG up to her feet.

"No…no! I need to know. Raw, please," she pleaded. Nothing could be more painful than this horrible not knowing.

Raw shook his head. "Bad things…" he muttered again, turning to Cain for support. The Viewer should've known better. Cain was always for the truth, even when it hurt the most. Cain nodded once. "Tell her," he said simply.

Before he could lose his nerve, Raw walked slowly over to the mirror, tore the sheet covering it off, and put a shaking paw on the gilded frame. His back arched and he gasped in pain as his heart flowed out with memories long past onto the glass, revealing the very bed that stood directly behind them. Upon the copper pillows and bed clothes a pretty little girl lay sleeping as her mother, the Queen, sang a soft lullaby to her.

"Two little princesses dancing in a row

Spinning fast and freely on their little toes

Where the light will take them, there's only one way to know

Two little princesses dancing in a row…" she sang. The kindly mother leaned forward and kissed her youngest daughter, the creamy fur of her coat tickling the girl's arm. "My Angel, my Light…sleep well," she whispered, leaving the room.

The four watched the scene long past on the mirror as Glitch cried, "Wait! That's _you_. I knew you, too." He blinked away a stray dreadlock, uncharacteristically focused on the memory the Viewer was showing them.

DG caressed the same cheek she just watched her mother kiss so many years ago, all her longing to find her real home expressed in that one simple gesture. "Oh, I wish I could remember…" she whispered.

A small brown terrier looked up from under the chair shown upon the mirror, ears alert as a tall, slender girl walked into the room. "The majestic queen of the O.Z. had two lovely daughters she," quoted the girl in sarcastic tones far beyond her twelve annuals. "

"That's Azkadellia," gasped Glitch. "Marbles or not, evil like that you don't forget."

DG couldn't tear her wide sapphire eyes away from the image playing out before her. "Azkadellia is my _sister_!" she said, in horrid realization.

Azkadellia continued her chant, "One to darkness, she be drawn, and one to light, she be shown. Double eclipse it is foreseen, light meets dark in the stillness between. But only one…and one alone…shall hold the emerald, and take the throne. Only one, and one…alone." The dark-haired beauty held out her arms menacingly, a dark mist flowing from her fingers, taking the 6-year-old DG's breath right from her body. The girl child's eyes stared unblinkingly and vacantly as she lay upon her richly covered bed.

The 21-year-old DG's eyes could not have shown more shock as she cried aloud, "She tried to kill me!"

"No," Cain correctly softly. "She _did_ kill you."

"But that can't be!" DG said, looking down at her obviously alive body.

The queen in the glass before them stayed a moment before DG's doorway, looking curiously at the retreating figure of her oldest daughter. Her gaze become more worried as she looked in at the resting body of her youngest…something didn't seem right, so she advanced quickly into the room. Lavender gasped miserably as she reached her prostrate daughter's figure upon the bed. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry I didn't protect you! I never thought…" Without hesitation, the queen funneled all of her light magic into one powerful breath into the dead child's mouth. Suddenly, the 6-year-old gasped awake, and Lavender fell forward in immense relief. Tears running down her cheek, the mother said as she looking lovingly into DG's eyes, "Oh, my Angel. Fear not, my child. There is one thing that can stop her…the emerald at the eclipse" Lavender then bent and whispered something just beyond the watching four's hearing into the child's ear. "The secret to finding it now lives inside of you. When the time is right, you will return." Never had any of the misfit band been more entranced before; even Cain, who was usually hyper-alert to his surroundings, couldn't tear his eyes away from the golden-framed mirror.

It was a mistake he would long play out in his mind, berating himself over and over again in disgusted guilt.

A voice behind them broke the Viewer's concentration as the light upon their faces dimmed and the four turned suddenly around.

"Mother never could leave well enough alone," said a melodious voice, at once at odds with its message.

A Longcoat marched immediately to the Tin Man's side where he wordlessly reached for the gun Cain lifted his duster to reveal. Cain's chagrined face frowningly met Zero's triumphant one. Zero blatantly brandished Cain's beloved gun as a trophy Zero would long treasure…almost as much as he would treasure the killing of his hated enemy with said enemy's own gun.

"Azkadellia," Glitch cried out in surprise.

DG moved slightly towards the dramatically cloaked woman. "You're my _sister_ ," she announced, still trying to wrap her head around that fact.

Azkadellia stepped forward, the light from the bedroom window highlighting her girlishly pink cheeks that matched the satin lining of her chocolate brown leather coat. "DG," the deceptively soft voice said, "The little sister I thought I no longer had. I've always wondered what you'd look like." The declaration of wonder did not reach her coldly focused eyes as Azkadellia stared down at DG.

Glitch stepped forward, sternly protective. "Leave her alone," he commanded with a voice unlike its usual vagueness. It was a voice strong enough to shake DG out of her shock as she put her hands on her hips and cocked her head like one used to facing down evil Sorceresses despite growing up in Kansas. "What do you want?" she said, for all the world like she didn't care in the least.

Azkadellia looked DG up and down slowly as she clearly gave the impression of being completely unimpressed. "Well, up until a moment ago I wanted your death," she giggled girlishly, "but now it seems you have something I need." It was intonated in the evil woman's voice that she much preferred the former option.

"What?" DG asked, looking askance at her newly discovered older sister.

"The emerald," Azkadellia said flatly, "You know where it is."

DG shook her head. Raw moved closer to DG, focused on pushing any emotional strength he could muster into his friend. Cain and Glitch flanked her, tall and protective, each in their own powerful way.

"Don't tell me you haven't dreamed of it," said the older woman. "Heard it calling to you begging to be found from its dark hiding place."

"No, I haven't," DG replied.

"No?" spoken as if to a small child.

"No," DG's voice had gotten a little smaller despite herself.

"What did she whisper," insisted the dark-haired beauty, attempting with all of her power to draw the information she so desperately needed out of the creature she saw as pathetic in front of her, "in your ear?"

DG shrugged her shoulders in reply. "I don't remember."

"That's a shame," said Azkadellia as she turned on her heel towards Zero, her unspoken message to him lighting his face up in expected pleasure. The more a victim resisted, the more fun he had torturing the information out of them.

"How can I tell you what I don't know?" DG said exasperatingly.

Turning back towards her sister, the sorceress clasped her hands out in front of her and opened them up to reveal a Liquid Viewing Container, all tarnished copper in its frame brashness and sickly green in its contents. An image of the queen appeared to be searching...looking for… "DG, where are you?"

"Mother?" DG gasped as her sister tossed the container to her. DG looked at the fading image of her mother crying out once more, "DG, where are you?"

Locking eyes with Azkadellia, DG asked, "What have you done with her?"

"Put her away for safe keeping, like any good daughter would," the false niceties returned.

"Where?" DG queried.

"Somewhere you will never find her," the Sorceress replied, enjoyment of the cat-and-mouse game curling up into her wicked smile.

DG had confirmed what she needed to know. The container did not actually hold her mother; it was just a viewing device, as she had suspected. Giving the arrogant woman a determinedly sweet smile, DG suddenly smashed the magical device upon the marble floor, smashing its contents at her sister's feet.

The mauve smoke provided a perfect screen to escape as Azkadellia jumped back in surprise. Cain would provide more of a distraction…at least that's what he told himself…and maybe finally get his revenge on Zero for killing his beloved family…and encouraged the others to make a run for it.

"Go! Go!" his firm voice commanded in the confusion.

DG, Glitch, and Raw made for the stairs with Azkadellia and two of her Longcoats on their heels. Zero and the rest of the Longcoats held back to deal with that deadly Tin Man.

Cain didn't hesitate. He grabbed his fedora and launched it at one of the Longcoats as a distraction as he landed a kick squarely in the Longcoat's gut, doubling the traitor over in pain. Turning his attention to the other one, the Tin Man soundly blocked one blow whilst successfully landing one of his own, his fist cracking upon contact with the taller man's face, duster flying. He moved quickly between the two downed men, reaching for Zero's arm, and wrestling his gun from Zero's grasp by cracking Zero's arm over his uplifted knee.

 _ZERO._

Cain was determined. He would get his revenge. After ten long annuals of staring madly into the scene of Zero torturing his innocent wife and child he would make the world a better place by ridding the O.Z. of this sadistic bastard. The Tin Man was focused on one thing, and one thing alone. DG's childhood bedroom would turn into a bloodbath with Zero swimming in his own blood if Cain had any say about it.

A floor below the Sorceress commanded her Longcoats to stop their useless running after the three escapees. "Wait!" she cried, marching to the bannister. Unshackling the buckles that held her sweeping leather coat in place, she bade her dark children to fly to her assistance. "Bring them to me," Azkadellia murmured almost lovingly to her minions. The Longcoats watched in fascination as her tattoos flew from her chest as Mobats descended upon the fleeing three.

Cain reached for the gun, but briefly lost his focus on the best tactics to subdue an enemy in his blind determination to kill. Zero kicked Cain resoundingly in the chin and away from the gun. Kicking him in the groin, Zero then forcefully jabbed his palm upwards so hard into Cain's mouth it knocked the big man to all fours, wiping blood from his lips.

 _Not again._

Glitch noticed the dark flying monkeys first. Veering away from his two companions, he began to dance between the tree-like columns along the green and gold marbled floor beneath him. At first, the slender man was so fast it was hard for even the mythical creatures to follow him. A bit of him over here, a part of him over there…that was Glitch, all over it seemed. The mobats, large in numbers and acting as one, were not veered from their evil purpose. Screeching and howling, the large creatures easily flew amongst the columns, focused on their target for the pleasure of their mistress. One by one they landed on Glitch, tearing and clawing at the downed head case, clicking their communications to one another as Glitch blacked into unconsciousness.

The floor above, Cain stood up to find himself facing Zero and two Longcoats who were no longer doubled over from his first attack. Still focused and trying to taunt Zero into fighting him single-handedly, Cain said "Now I know why they call you 'Zero.' Still can't fight your own battles." The scene was all too familiar.

The ploy worked. Slicking back his greasy hair, Zero signaled for the Longcoats to back off as he growled, "I do my share."

How Raw got separated from DG he never knew in all the chaos. He found himself alone and all his courage he had mustered to support DG melted away as he blindly tried to hide and fight off the mobats. "DG!" Raw cried out to the brave girl he saw as his savior for freeing him from the papay's cocoon. Having taken care of the former advisor, the mobats ganged up on the Viewer, as Azkadellia commandeered her Longcoats to bring the leoline creature to her. Viewers were always welcome in her dungeon, where she could strap them to her magical viewing machines and force them to read her prisoner's hearts.

It took two punches for Zero's men to realize he couldn't take the 6-foot, solidly built Tin Man himself, so one grabbed Cain from behind, holding his arms tightly as the other Longcoat punched him repeatedly. This worked fine for the members of the evil army until the Tin Man pushed himself up with all his might and used the man holding him as leverage as he soundly kicked the one in front of him, sending both Longcoats to the ground. Cain once again turned to face his real target: Zero.

The mobats flying just below in the great hall now turned their attention to the other Gale sister, surrounding her as she tried to fight them off. Adjusting her hold on the Slipper's jacket, one mobat lifted DG high into the air.

"Put me down!" DG screamed, kicking and fighting for all she was worth, as her sister lifted her chin up proudly at her evident success.

In DG's old bedroom, the two fight-weary enemies faced each other again. With his armor, his men, and his stolen weapon, Zero had the upper hand. Zero smiled sardonically down at Cain as he delivered a final blow straight down at the platinum blonde head, a surge of evil pleasure rushing over Zero as he watched the Tin Man fall helplessly to the floor.

"No Iron Suit for you this time," Zero gasped out between breaths as he retrieved Cain's gun from the floor, "no wife and child crying for years to free you from it."

Cain stumbled as he barely stood, shock entering his crystal blue eyes. "My family's alive?" he said, looking up at the man he hated so much.

"Hardly matters now," Zero replied through bloodied teeth.

With nothing further to say, Azkadellia's head Longcoat lifted Cain's gun and shot him squarely in the place which once held his heart, sending the Tin Man through the icy upper story window, crashing into the frozen lake far below.

Tossing the now dead Tin Man's gun to the childhood floor of the youngest princess, Zero smiled proudly at the defeat of his greatest enemy and went to report to his Sorceress.

As the mobats flew DG through the Great Hall, she saw her friend sprawled uselessly upon the green and gold marbled floor below as two mobats picked mercilessly at his already-tattered clothes. "Glitch!" she cried helplessly.

The mobats dropped her unceremoniously in front of their beloved mistress. DG looked up at her newly discovered older sister, her sapphire blue eyes wide and shocked.

"Welcome back Little Sister," Azkadellia said in her soft yet emotionless voice, "there's no place like the O.Z."


	2. Can't Keep a Good Man Down

**Chapter Two: Can't Keep a Good Man Down**

The Tin Man lay groaning heavily, the recent memories of his encounter with Zero haunting his recovery. Zero had said that Adora and Jeb, the wife and son he thought had been dead since his entrapment in the Iron Maiden, had been crying for him for years. Was Zero telling the truth, or was this another, more insidious form of torture?

Through his hypothermia-induced haze, Cain heard the door of DeMilo's van open suddenly. Without thought, his instinct as a Tin Man took over and he raised his revolver towards the sound, clicking the safety off as he prepared to protect himself. He felt his arm being pushed down gently and a vague thought that he was safe helped him relax his guard for a moment.

"You've been sleeping for hours, like a baby with his pacifier," drifted in the voice of Glitch. Cain wondered how even the Headcase could sound cheerful in the circumstances they found themselves in. Sounds of the crackling of flames licking the bark away from wood as Glitch fed the small wood stove began waking Cain up to the reality around him.

"I thought you were dead," the Tin Man breathed painfully.

"Ditto," Glitch replied softly. "You know, I might have saved you from hypothermia, but, um, _this_ is what saved your life."

Cain glanced over and saw Glitch holding out the small Tin Horse he had made for his son so many years ago. Cain had put it in his duster pocket, right over his heart. It wasn't lost to him that an act of love was responsible for his being alive now. "It stopped the bullet," Glitch said.

Speaking of acts of love…

"DG?" Cain panted, a world of questions hidden behind one simple name.

"Azkadellia," Glitch replied, not able to look at Cain directly.

The Tin Man gasped, clutching Jeb's tin horse to his chest. He closed his eyes against an onslaught of emotion, and he felt the burning of a tear forming behind the lids as he forced himself to assess the situation as professionally as he could.

"Raw?" he managed, his voice breaking.

"I don't know, I can't find him," answered Glitch. Cain barely heard him, as he struggled to hold back the tears that even now trickled slowly down his cheek. Azkadellia had DG…his very heart constricted at the thought of what she was going through right now. Cain forced himself to listen to the ramblings of the Zipperhead. "Either they took him too, or he's dead, or…" Glitch continued in a gentle tone.

"Maybe he ran away," Cain said matter-of-factly. Getting back to facts helped force any more forbidden tears from forming, and Cain was glad. Emotions only mucked up the situation, and wouldn't help them find DG or Raw…or answers about his family. Cold, hard logic and taking command was the only protection against the deep emotions Cain had fought against his whole life. It was the secret only his Mother had ever really known, something that he kept even from his young wife: the fact that Cain was actually deeply sensitive, more so than most. Only building a sarcastic, tough-as-tin exterior had kept him able to survive not only Tin Man Academy and effectively working the field, but from being torn apart by life itself.

"You know, you really should do something about that bitter cynicism, Cain," Glitch spat, not knowing the reason behind the Tin Man's steel exterior.

"Why? Someone's gotta keep your wide-eyed optimism in check," quipped Cain.

Glitch clunked down a log onto the small pile in front of the old stove to give vent to his feelings. The Headcase was feeling guilty enough for not protecting DG and not finding Raw without Cain reminding him of the Viewer's not-so-secret flaw.

Cain knew he had pushed too hard. After a decade of a single memory pushing itself inside of his brain and all the details of revenge he had strategized, the onslaught of emotions was overwhelming to say the least. The Tin Man had gone from sizing the tall, lanky man up as a convict, to leading him across the O.Z., to owing his life to the odd wanderer.

"Hey Glitch," Cain said.

"What?" came the terse reply.

Cain acknowledged Glitch with a tired but sincere nod of his head. "I owe you one."

Glitch's smile brightened every brightly colored fabric that colored the broken-down vehicle. He knew this was the closest thing he was going to get to an apology, and he was okay with that. The wheels in what was left of his brain started to churn, and he began rambling. The Headcase's filter must have been lifted along with the other half of his mind, because he said whatever he thought with no impulse control evident whatsoever.

"You know, Cain, professional psychotherapy is just a crow's call away these days," Glitch announced. "I think a man like you with your issues of masculinity and what we call the Boy Scout Syndrome, your need to protect and serve overrides a deep-seated need to be accepted and loved. For instance, take DG…"

Cain had begun to drift off at the monotonous sound of Glitch's lecture, but awoke suddenly at the mention of the young woman's name. "Take DG what?" he said sharply.

Glitch stopped for a moment, turning to look at the blue eyes that had turned ice cold in a second. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "You're not exactly happy that we…that _you_ …didn't stop Azkadellia from taking her, are you?"

Cain exhaled, relieved at Glitch's answer, but he couldn't say why. "Should've seen her coming," he said. He couldn't believe, even after all those years of being locked up, he had lost his touch to such a dangerous degree.

Glitch was soft in his reply. "None of us saw her coming."

This made little impact on Cain's guilt. He was a Tin Man. He was the one charged by the Mystic Man to protect her…to stay by her side…at all costs. How long had it taken for him to abandon her side to stay and fight Zero? At the time, he told himself it was to help her escape; provide a distraction, someone for Zero and his two goons to fight. Now, in this Greasy Sideshow Van with a companion with only half of his wits lying beneath blankets that had seen Ozma-knew-what, Cain wrestled with the unvarnished truth of why he sent DG, Glitch, and Raw running while he stayed to fight it out with the man whom he hated beyond anyone in all of the O.Z.: his hate had long outgrown his love for anyone or anything; even his honour as a Tin Man. Except what if Jeb was alive? His eyes softened.

If his son was alive, his love for him outshone even the years of hate-fueled vengeance built up in his heart. Symbolized in the very toy figurine he grasped in his fist, Cain was the one who played with Jeb, nurtured him tenderly even. Jeb's mother was the practical one, the no-nonsense parent.

Adora…

What if his wife was alive?

After years of believing firmly that she was dead, he couldn't wrap his head around the possibility she was alive.

What of his developing feelings for…

Cain shook his head slightly to dispel those burgeoning thoughts. He was a man of honour and loyalty first, and if the wife of his youth was alive, he would stand by his wedding vows to her. If theirs had been a marriage of convenience hastened by Adora's growing belly, it had developed into mutual fondness and respect Cain had come to appreciate. Above all else he would make up for not protecting her and their son against Azkadellia's Longcoats and never let anything happen to them again.

Until Cain found his wife and son, his more immediate duty, was to find DG and keep the promise he had made to the Mystic Man.

"You know, during my University days I was the go-to man for anybody needing advice on how to handle any niggling problems that might arise. You could begin to talk about the tap-roots of those ridiculously guarded behaviors of yours, Cain. Why, I remember a particularly troubled young man by the name of Frank…"

Cain allowed himself a small smile as he drifted off to sleep once again.


	3. Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, Either

**Chapter Three: Can't Hold a Good Woman Down, Either**

"DG, my lovely little sister," Azkadellia cooed as she played with a lock of DG's hair. Her hazel eyes suddenly grew sharp and threatening. "That was the wrong. Answer." She motioned to Zero, "Now we do it your way."

"I'll take her for a reading with Lylo," Zero said, grabbing DG by the arm forcibly.

The Sorceress coldly appraised her sister for a moment, saying, "If you remember nothing, I would remember this: the next time I snuff out your insignificant little life, there'll be no one standing by to save you."

"And Zero," Azkadellia said to Zero, "I mean _your way_." Zero raised his eyebrows indicating he was listening. "Rough her up on the way there…in the way only you know how to do," the Sorceress said with an evil grin.

Zero smiled sardonically. "Of course, Sorceress," he agreed willingly.

DG's eyes grew wide and worried as he pulled her towards the dark passageway. Zero motioned for his legion of Longcoats to move on ahead. She struggled against his iron hold. "Hey! You're hurting me!" she growled.

"You like that?" Zero spat out as they entered the castle. He pushed her against the wall, causing her head to crack against the stone and stars shoot before DG's eyes in confused dizziness. He grabbed her throat with one hand and her breast with the other, kneading it painfully. "I like girls who like it rough." Zero brought his mouth down on hers, biting her lips. He reached down and lifted one of her legs as he thrust his pelvis roughly against hers, grinding mercilessly. Taking his hand off her throat to fumble with the waistband of her jeans, he lifted his head, glaring into her eyes and grunting.

DG had never had sex before and she wasn't about to let this be her first time. Hell, she wasn't going to let Zero be her _any_ time. She let a burst of anger rush through her as she upper-cut the heel of her palm upwards into his throat. When he stumbled back, choking, she grabbed his shoulders and thrust her knee into his groin, causing Zero to double over in pain. DG seized the moment and began running down the hall.

"Stop her! Stop her!" gasped out Zero loud enough for his Longcoats to hear. DG frantically looked around for an escape route, but none presented itself, and she found herself tackled to the ground by three Longcoats. She looked up to see Zero looking down at her, a new hatred carved especially for her in his eyes.

"This isn't over," he said, pointing at her with his index finger. "Take the little bitch to the Interrogation Room," Zero spat, as the Longcoats yanked DG up and hurried her along the corridor.

Lylo looked sadly at DG as they threw her into the restraint chair, buckling in her slender arms with wide leather straps.

"Lylo sorry…" he said looking into her eyes with his chocolate brown ones.

"Shut up!" yelled the Medico.

DG looked back at the Viewer with kindness. "It's not your fault," she reassured him. For her pains, she was shocked with a magical jolt through her system by the Medico. "I said, SHUT UP!"

The Sorceress swept in imperiously. She wasted no time. "Find where the emerald is," she demanded to the Viewer.

Lylo reached over and laid a paw on DG's arm. He breathed in and out deeply, concentrating.

DG tried to find a safe memory or image or anything that would protect her from the onslaught of such an emotional reading of her mind, heart, and soul. Her mind whirled in tornadic chaos trying to fix on something that made her feel cared for and protected. She tried to think of her Kansas parents, but recent truths tore those comforting memories to shreds. She willed her muscles to relax.

"Lylo see…brown. Brown and blue."

"What does that mean?" Azkadellia stopped her pacing and glared at the Viewer.

"Safe. Make DG feel safe," Lylo said softly. He cast a side-ways glance at DG.

DG blushed. She hadn't realized that she had fixed on a certain person she had met recently who, despite his grumbling, crusty exterior did indeed make her feel safe. He began by trying to walk away from her. He began by sizing her up as someone who would run away, despite the fact that _she_ began by running into the fray trying to save his little boy with nothing but a stick. He had been suspicious of her, had warned her time and again not to trust anyone…and she suspected that included himself. In the face of all that, he was eminently protective, even careful of her. She had chalked it up to his chivalrous, cowboy-like nature until the Northern mountain. He had come up to her to merely look his strength and concern into her as she battled her feelings after Lylo began reading the sadness of her mother off of the luxurious cream coat. It was then she realized that maybe…just maybe…he was fighting his feelings for her.

She shook her head imperceptibly. It wouldn't do to linger on such thoughts. The impossibility of the thing was overwhelming. Besides, she had a little more pressing situation to concentrate on, like saving all of the O.Z. from her powerfully evil sister.

"I don't happen to care if she feels safe or not!" yelled the Sorceress. "A whisper, Lylo. All I'm looking for is a secret whisper to a little girl."

"Lylo can't find…" the Viewer said, then roared in pain as the Medico sent jarring bolts of pain through his body.

"Focus!"

"Something is…protecting her…memories!"

"Break though. NOW."

"Lylo's trying!"

"Don't try. Do."

"How can he remember if I can't?" DG pleaded, her voice breaking in worry for one of Raw's own kind. Lylo had seen her feelings for the Tin Man; she was sure of it, and he protected her. Now it was her turn to protect Lylo.

"What did Mother whisper into DG's ear about the emerald?" yelled Azkadellia.

"Emerald the…only thing that can…stop Azkadellia," replied Lylo.

"Focus, Lylo, where is it?" insisted the Sorceress.

"All is gray! Emerald within…the Gray Gale…" Lylo gasped.

"The Gray Gale? What's the Gray Gale?" Azkadellia stopped once more, turning to look at him.

"Don't know! Can't see!" Lylo pleaded.

Azkadellia marched towards them. "Where is it?"

"Hurts to…reach into her memories…memories surrounded by…magic…" Lylo's eyes widened bright as the morning stars for one moment, then he collapsed, insensate.

"Lylo!" DG screamed.

"Magic? I don't have to guess who's responsible for that, do I?" Azkadellia spat, looking at DG.


End file.
